Uttar Pradesh: Dalit girl critical after gangrape in Hathras, two held

The chief medical superintendent of the hospital said on Thursday, “All her limbs are paralysed because of the spinal chord being injured. She is critical at the moment.”

A 19-year-old Dalit girl is in critical condition after she was gangraped and left seriously injured in Hathras district, police said.

In her statement to the police on Wednesday, the girl said she was gangraped by four men belonging to an upper caste, who tried to strangle her and left her unconscious. Her tongue was also cut, the police said.

While the incident happened on September 14, the girl regained consciousness a week later. She is being treated in an Aligarh hospital, where she is on ventilator.

The chief medical superintendent of the hospital said on Thursday, “All her limbs are paralysed because of the spinal chord being injured. She is critical at the moment.”

Hathras Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Prakash Kumar said the incident happened when the girl was working in a field.

“The complaint submitted by her brother earlier was for attempt to murder. Based on that, we had lodged a case under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder), and since the victim belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, we had invoked the SC/ST Act against one person. Because the girl was critical, we could not hear her side. Later, when she regained consciousness and gave a statement on Wednesday, she alleged that she was gangraped by four men (aged between 20-25). After her statement, we invoked IPC Section 376-D (gangrape) and she named three other youths,” said Kumar.

He said that two of the four accused, who are related to each other, have been arrested while two others are absconding. “Police teams have been formed to arrest them and they will be nabbed soon,” said Kumar.

“The girl is seriously injured. She is undergoing treatment in Aligarh. Her tongue was cut and the accused tried to strangle her,” said the ASP.

Hathras SP Vikrant Vir said the police suspect that the motive could be enmity between the families of the accused and the girl. “In 2001, a case was lodged under SC/ST Act for assault between the two families. We are getting details of the case and the investigation will be done accordingly,” he said.

“We have started proceedings to ensure that the girl’s family gets compensation under the SC/ST Act rules. We will also request the local court to take up the case on a fast-track basis,” Vir added.

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